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St Stanislaus House

St Stanislaus House was opened in 1956 in Royal Park. Also known as the Polish Orphanage, it was run by the Resurrection Sisters and accommodated orphans, children from broken homes and children whose mothers were out at work or were ill. Some children were of primary school age and attended local Catholic schools. Staffing shortages…

St Vincent’s Trust Endowment Society

St Vincent’s Trust Endowment Society ran St Joseph’s Refuge, Fullarton between 1992 and 2001.

St Joseph’s Refuge

St Joseph’s Refuge was established in Adelaide by the Catholic Church in 1868. Run by the Sisters of St Joseph, it provided refuge for unmarried mothers and children to the age of three years. Older children went to St Joseph’s Orphanage, Largs Bay. The refuge moved to Mitcham, Norwood and then Fullarton in 1901. In…

St Joseph’s Orphanage Largs Bay

St Joseph’s Orphanage at Largs Bay, formerly St Joseph’s Sanatorium, opened in 1907. Run by the Sisters of St Joseph it took in infants and school age children. From 1941 it accommodated only boys aged 3 to 12. Girls were sent to St Vincent de Paul Orphanage, Goodwood and older boys to St John’s Boystown,…

Salesians of Don Bosco

The Salesians of Don Bosco are an international organisation of Catholic priests and brothers who work with disadvantaged and marginalised young people. They were founded by the Italian priest Saint John Bosco in the mid nineteenth century. The first Salesians came to the Kimberley region of Australia in 1922 in order to run a mission….

Brothers of St John the Baptist

The Catholic Order of the Brothers of St John the Baptist was founded by Father John Healy of the Thebarton parish in around 1892. The Order ran a reformatory called St John the Baptist Home for Boys. In 1941, the Salesians of Don Bosco took over management of the St John the Baptist Home for…

St John the Baptist Home for Boys

St John the Baptist Home for Boys was established in 1898 in Brooklyn Park. Run by the Brothers of St John the Baptist and under the control of the government, it took in Catholic boys from the Boys’ Reformatory, Magill. In 1941 the Home became a private Catholic reformatory known as St John’s Boys Town….

Sacred Heart Orphanage

The Sacred Heart Orphanage was established in 1940 at Crystal Brook. Run by the Good Samaritan Sisters, it originally catered for children in need whose fathers had been killed during World War II. In the 1970s the orphanage accommodated children between 4 and 15 years of age. The institution closed as an orphanage in 1979….

Convent of the Good Shepherd “The Pines”

The Convent of the Good Shepherd was established in 1942 in a large home called ‘The Pines’ in Plympton. It was run by the Order of the Good Shepherd Sisters as a home for teenage girls. The first children admitted came from the Catholic Girls’ Home at Parkside when it closed in 1943. In 1974…

Catholic Girls’ Reformatory, Kapunda

The Catholic Girls’ Reformatory at Kapunda was established in 1897 to house Catholic girls from the Girls’ Reformatory at Edwardstown. It was run by the Sisters of St Joseph. The Reformatory was closed in 1909 and the remaining girls were transferred to the Redruth Girls’ Reformatory at Burra. During the 1870s and early 1880s Sister…